Many sellers place their listing in the hands of the selling agent and are not aware of potential showings and possible sale that they are missing out on.

I have recently been setting up showings for a pre-approved buyer and have ran across some rather surprising and unexpected responses from the listing agent. The first agent was on vacation and wouldn’t arrange the showing during his vacation, nor did he have anyone covering his listings during this time. The second agent informed me that the listing required a 72 hour notice before all showings. While a 24 hour notice is pretty typical, and I could have accommodated a 72 hour notice in this case, no where was this length notice advertised so the appointment was not made in time. Needless to say, neither of these homes were shown and these other agent’s clients lost out on a potential sale.

Many buyers realize that sellers have lives outside of showing their homes and are willing to accommodate, but unusual or special restrictions should be advertised in the MLS so other agents can plan for it. Work and school schedules, owners who work from the home, tenants in rental properties and elderly owners who can’t leave the home without assistance are just a few reasons why showing times or additional advance notice of a showing may be necessary. If these are regular restrictions, then they should be advertised on the MLS system if at all possible. (Note: For privacy it is possible to advertise this information only to other Realtors and not the general public). When selling your home you should try an be as flexible as possible with showing times within reason so you don’t miss that one buyer who will buy your home, especially in the current slow market.

You should also ask your agent who will be representing you when they are out of town or unavailable for an extended period of time. Many agents will have another agent or the broker cover them while they are unavailable to make sure you are getting the service you signed a contract for. You need to make sure you don’t miss out on a sale just because your agent was out of town for two week. In my case, the buyer wrote an offer on another house they could see that week, so the seller may have well missed their chance.

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